8 ms·

If you ever have a chance, talk to Vietnamese immigrants that you work with, and hear their stories of escape. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has a book or mov

by gedy 2y ago

If you ever have a chance, talk to Vietnamese immigrants that you work with, and hear their stories of escape. Nearly everyone I've spoken to has a book or movie-worthy tale to tell. Many went through tough times after the war was over and left years later.

wbl 2y ago
Yup: many settled in southern coastal states and endured vicious racism aimed at keeping them from shrimping.
- selimthegrim 2y ago
  Many are still here in Louisiana and Texas. But in Louisiana and New Orleans the population is shrinking.
  - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
    From 2.3% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2020 of Louisiana’s population.
- louky 2y ago
  I remember seeing women on the sides of the highway in one part of town gathering plants to eat, there's plenty of edible stuff out there, and my parents telling me they were refugees. Must have been in '74/'75 and I was a wee lad. In a Southern state. My parents were PhDs from Berkley and UCLA who got positions in the south so it was a weird time and place. For everyone.
- Amezarak 2y ago
  There's no doubt that racism played a role, but a lot of the bitterness was more related to the fact that a huge influx of people, some of them very desperate, arrived and worked in the shrimping industry for low wages and in terrible conditions. This cut the rest of of the labor market off at the knees. Suddenly a lot of people who had had the job for years, and had maybe been doing it for generations as a family trade, either lost their job or were unable to carry it out profitably.
fsckboy 2y ago
[flagged]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
stonesthrowaway 2y ago
[flagged]
- gedy 2y ago
  Not sure what your issue is but it's pretty insulting to a lot of people.
  - stonesthrowaway 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - esperent 2y ago
    It's a symptom of current US politics, sadly. I expect it's gonna get worse before it gets better. The best approach, IMO, is to flag, downvote, and move on. Don't engage, don't get in arguments. I don't mean this in general, just on HN which is not intended to be a political space. For some people, reactionary politics has become their entire world and it's important to show them this doesn't get the reaction they desire here.
stevenwoo 2y ago
The Sympathizer/The Committed though fictional have many details that match the stories of different people I know, with the taking off from Saigon airfield while under attack from NVA to others escaping on a boat with only the hope of being picked up by friendlies of some stripe and avoiding pirates or others who could only escape in any case with some of their immediate family and had to get the rest reunited years later. Not a few of the ones old enough to remember the details though are getting scarce simply because of age (some of the people I know were too young to remember anything and had to rely on their parents memories).
technothrasher 2y ago
I worked with a Vietnamese lady for many years. She refused to ever talk about her escape. She would simply only say, "I was very young. It was bad. I don't like to remember it."
- newsclues 2y ago
  My grandmother said the same thing about the end of the Second World War as a young German and wouldn’t elaborate.
- csomar 2y ago
  The brain has this nice thing of removing traumatizing memories so that it can move on. Asking people about these things is not a good idea. Just let them recount the tales if they want.
yieldcrv 2y ago
the 'luxury' apt building I live in has lots of Ukrainians and Russians (amongst the tech, influencers and onlyfans merchants, the only stateside people that can seemingly afford this location) the men have really harrowing stories of escaping their respective countries since they weren't allowed to leave, being draftable and its all very current and ongoing
- reaperducer 2y ago
  the 'luxury' apt building I live in has lots of Ukrainians and Russians… the men have really harrowing stories of escaping their respective countries since they weren't allowed to leave, being draftable My next-door neighbor is one of them. We were on nodding terms in the hallway for about six months after he moved in, then one day I saw him at the trash chute wearing a "Fuck Putin" shirt, and I asked him about it. He started to tell me his story, and then suddenly stopped, saying he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Based on the start of the story, I can understand him not wanting to finish it.
  - s1artibartfast 2y ago
    Were they Russian or Ukrainian? My casual understanding is that the draft is much more significant in Ukraine, although it's hard to find details of it and the penalties for dodgers.
- StefanBatory 2y ago
  Russians could leave way easier than Ukrainians, though.
  - throwaway290 2y ago
    I can confirm friends coming in/out of Russia without much change. All IT workers are exempted from mobilization. People after 30 yo are safe from draft. Yonger are supposed to be draftable but I know someone who is 2x yo and went to visit Russia, fly in and out with no issues. The only difference is airplane tickets more expensive now. Meanwhile men in Ukraine can be mobilized on the street and good luck leaving the country
wazoox 2y ago
That applies equally to most people having been through war and becoming refugees. I know a couple of people who fled from Afghanistan, and that wasn't exactly a cakewalk. Like "my brother was forced to enroll in the talibans and got killed, so they ordered my father to provide another fighter, so he decided to make me escape to Iran instead at age 13, from where I walked / hitchhiked to Sweden in 2 years"
- whimsicalism 2y ago
  was the taliban going to follow into all of the EU countries in between Iran and Sweden?

by gedy 2y ago

wbl 2y ago

Yup: many settled in southern coastal states and endured vicious racism aimed at keeping them from shrimping.

selimthegrim 2y ago
Many are still here in Louisiana and Texas. But in Louisiana and New Orleans the population is shrinking.
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  From 2.3% in 2010 to 1.8% in 2020 of Louisiana’s population.
louky 2y ago
I remember seeing women on the sides of the highway in one part of town gathering plants to eat, there's plenty of edible stuff out there, and my parents telling me they were refugees. Must have been in '74/'75 and I was a wee lad. In a Southern state. My parents were PhDs from Berkley and UCLA who got positions in the south so it was a weird time and place. For everyone.
Amezarak 2y ago
There's no doubt that racism played a role, but a lot of the bitterness was more related to the fact that a huge influx of people, some of them very desperate, arrived and worked in the shrimping industry for low wages and in terrible conditions. This cut the rest of of the labor market off at the knees. Suddenly a lot of people who had had the job for years, and had maybe been doing it for generations as a family trade, either lost their job or were unable to carry it out profitably.

fsckboy 2y ago

[flagged]

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

stonesthrowaway 2y ago

[flagged]

gedy 2y ago
Not sure what your issue is but it's pretty insulting to a lot of people.
- stonesthrowaway 2y ago
  [flagged]
- esperent 2y ago
  It's a symptom of current US politics, sadly. I expect it's gonna get worse before it gets better. The best approach, IMO, is to flag, downvote, and move on. Don't engage, don't get in arguments. I don't mean this in general, just on HN which is not intended to be a political space. For some people, reactionary politics has become their entire world and it's important to show them this doesn't get the reaction they desire here.

stevenwoo 2y ago

The Sympathizer/The Committed though fictional have many details that match the stories of different people I know, with the taking off from Saigon airfield while under attack from NVA to others escaping on a boat with only the hope of being picked up by friendlies of some stripe and avoiding pirates or others who could only escape in any case with some of their immediate family and had to get the rest reunited years later. Not a few of the ones old enough to remember the details though are getting scarce simply because of age (some of the people I know were too young to remember anything and had to rely on their parents memories).

technothrasher 2y ago

I worked with a Vietnamese lady for many years. She refused to ever talk about her escape. She would simply only say, "I was very young. It was bad. I don't like to remember it."

newsclues 2y ago
My grandmother said the same thing about the end of the Second World War as a young German and wouldn’t elaborate.
csomar 2y ago
The brain has this nice thing of removing traumatizing memories so that it can move on. Asking people about these things is not a good idea. Just let them recount the tales if they want.

yieldcrv 2y ago

the 'luxury' apt building I live in has lots of Ukrainians and Russians (amongst the tech, influencers and onlyfans merchants, the only stateside people that can seemingly afford this location) the men have really harrowing stories of escaping their respective countries since they weren't allowed to leave, being draftable and its all very current and ongoing

reaperducer 2y ago
the 'luxury' apt building I live in has lots of Ukrainians and Russians… the men have really harrowing stories of escaping their respective countries since they weren't allowed to leave, being draftable My next-door neighbor is one of them. We were on nodding terms in the hallway for about six months after he moved in, then one day I saw him at the trash chute wearing a "Fuck Putin" shirt, and I asked him about it. He started to tell me his story, and then suddenly stopped, saying he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Based on the start of the story, I can understand him not wanting to finish it.
- s1artibartfast 2y ago
  Were they Russian or Ukrainian? My casual understanding is that the draft is much more significant in Ukraine, although it's hard to find details of it and the penalties for dodgers.
StefanBatory 2y ago
Russians could leave way easier than Ukrainians, though.
- throwaway290 2y ago
  I can confirm friends coming in/out of Russia without much change. All IT workers are exempted from mobilization. People after 30 yo are safe from draft. Yonger are supposed to be draftable but I know someone who is 2x yo and went to visit Russia, fly in and out with no issues. The only difference is airplane tickets more expensive now. Meanwhile men in Ukraine can be mobilized on the street and good luck leaving the country

wazoox 2y ago

That applies equally to most people having been through war and becoming refugees. I know a couple of people who fled from Afghanistan, and that wasn't exactly a cakewalk. Like "my brother was forced to enroll in the talibans and got killed, so they ordered my father to provide another fighter, so he decided to make me escape to Iran instead at age 13, from where I walked / hitchhiked to Sweden in 2 years"

whimsicalism 2y ago
was the taliban going to follow into all of the EU countries in between Iran and Sweden?